Gambling statistics paint picture of gambling in Great Britain

Figures released today provide an up-to-date picture of the gambling industry in Great Britain - including almost a year's worth of data from all operators offering online gambling. These figures provide an update on the last set of industry statistics released by the Gambling Commission in November 2015 and are based on information provided to the Commission by licensed operators.

Headline findings reveal:

£12.6bn - Total Gross Gambling Yield (GGY1) for the Great Britain gambling industry (October 2014 - September 2015). This compares with £11.2bn reported in the April 2014 - March 2015 industry statistics2.

29% (£3.6bn) of the gambling market share is remote (online) betting, bingo and casino (October 2014 - September 2015). This remains steady, showing little change from the first five months' worth of online data published in November 2015, following changes in the law which meant the online sector was regulated by the Gambling Commission under a point of consumption regime.

£1.7bn - Contributions to good causes from the National Lottery (October 2014 - September 2015) increased by 2.1% from £1.67bn during the period April 2014 - March 2015.

£195m - Contributions to good causes from large society lotteries increased by 3.9% between the April 2014 - March 2015 report and the October 2014 - September 2015 report.

8,809 - The number of betting shops (March 2016) decreased by 1.9% compared to 8,975 in March 2015.

1,721 - The number of arcades (March 2016) fell by 11.1% compared to 1,937 in March 20153.

34,704 - The number of B2 machines in betting shops decreased by 0.5%. A total of 34,894 was reported in the last industry statistics report (April 2014 - March 2015). The GGY from these machines increased by 1.5% from £1.68bn to £1.71bn4).

599 - The total number of bingo premises (March 2016) decreased by 10.1% to 599 compared to March 2015, with an increase in bingo game GGY (October 2014 - September 2015) of 4.9% - the first increase since April 2011 - March 20125

Programme director James Green said: "Today we are publishing clear authoritative data on the gambling industry in Great Britain.

"For the first time the figures include almost a full year's worth of data relating to online gambling operators - the market share of the online betting, bingo and casino sector is 29% and we'll be interested to see how this varies over time.

"Offline we're seeing changes. For instance, there's been a reduction in the number of betting shops, arcades and bingo halls in the last two years.

"Market trends and consumer participation research are key to shaping the Commission's regulatory policy to keep gambling in Britain safe for consumers, fair, and crime-free."